The present invention relates to a protective uniform for a high-impact sport, and more particularly to a protective uniform providing protection for the entire spine, head and much of the body, yet enabling motion of the head, body and arms, and allowing for visibility.
Several protective uniforms exist for impact sports and high-risk activities. One of the most protective is for football, which includes shoulder pads, elbow pads, thigh pads, knee pads, chest, back and tail pads, and a helmet. There are also neck protection collars. Hockey also has protective gear to almost the same extent. Motocross has protective gear that includes thick gloves to protect the hands, a back and chest pad, a helmet and other gear. Generally, these protective uniforms do not connect the back and shoulder pads to the helmet to provide fixed spinal cord protection. The problem with connecting back pads, shoulder pads and a helmet and making them rigid is that this limits head and body turning and limits visibility and athletic motion. Moreover, the pads are generally pliable and thus do not provide rigid protection against bending stress on the spine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,541, issued Feb. 10, 1998 to Landau, discloses a brain and spinal cord protector for higher-risk activities, including motorcycling and other sports. This protector attempts to provide free motion of the head and neck and yet protect against landing on the head, especially with forward motion, which tends to bend the neck and possibly sever the spine. Four rigid posts connect a flexible jacket worn by the user to a bowl-shaped head shield. While this provides some protection for the neck and perhaps upper spine, the spine is not protected from the tailbone to the upper spine. Moreover, this structure still appears to leave the possibility of a buckling of the spine. The connections of the four posts to the helmet will be subject to strong forces and may fail. A second embodiment attempts to minimize this drawback by having a solid rear neck portion, but the uniform still appears to hinder motion substantially.
In view of the above, there is a need for a rigid head, neck and body-protective uniform for the spine yet also allowing athletic motion and visibility.
In one embodiment, the invention provides a rigid shell for a person""s back, neck, and at least a rear portion of the head, preferably to the top or just over the top of the head too. A rigid artificial spine is located between the shell and wearer and is connected to the shell. The connection preferably includes structure to dampen force applied to the shell as it transfers to the spine and major structural parts of the body such as the hips and shoulders through the artificial spine.
An upper portion of the spine preferably universally articulates to a comparable extent as a human neck such that the head has a normal range of motion, and a lower portion of the artificial spine also universally articulates comparable to the lower back. The artificial spine preferably includes an upper curved section to follow the shape of the neck, back of the head and top of the head, a middle section, and a lower section. The sections are connected by universal joints.
The top section preferably attaches to the rigid shell, and the middle section attaches by dampers such as piston dampers to the shell.
In another embodiment, the upper section which follows the curve of the head is rigid and is rigidly connected to a middle section of the spine, and the middle section is connected by a universal joint or swivel joint to a bottom section. The bottom section includes a flexible threaded shaft to which the tail pad or tail bone pad is connected. Two half-rings are fixed to the inside of the shell and mate with two half-rings located at the front of the uniform. A ratchet mechanism is used to custom fit the rear half ring to the wearer.
The player may also wear a conventional football helmet, football or hockey shoulder pads and hip pads, and a motocross back and chest pad. The back and chest pads strap to each other around the sides and also over the shoulder pads. The back pads also have Velcro(trademark) straps to strap around the middle section of the artificial spine. The player may also wear a rappelling-style harness to which the hip pads are mounted. The harness also preferably has a Velcro(trademark) strap to go around a lower portion of the middle section of the artificial spine.